People Would Rather Be Miserable Than Alone

Study shows most people feel anxiety about being single.

By
Cosmo Frank

Dec 04, 2013

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Remember the worst relationship you ever had? The one you look back on and wonder why you even bothered to stay in it for so long? Researchers at the University of Toronto believe it's because people tend to prefer to be in bad relationships than alone (via Medical Daily). They polled samples of students and post-grads in the U.S. and Canada (so the data skews young, but isn't exclusive to college students). A considerable number, 40 percent, reported no stigma attached to being single, but the remaining 60 percent said they felt inadequate going stag. Nearly 20 percent had anxiety about dying alone (which, only 20?), and that fear, it was shown, only grows with age.

The most surprising findings, though, showed that these fears are more or less the same for men and women. Previous studies focused solely on women, perpetuating a myth that females are more likely to settle because they're afraid of being alone. So women, just know that you're not alone in your paralyzing fear of loneliness.